Bedding securing structure



April 5, 1966 M. M. KINTNER 3,243,827

BEDDING SECURING STRUCTURE Filed May 27, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet l FIG. I

INVENTOR.

F| 3 MILDRED M. KINTNER BY 74%;; *Zim ATTORNEYS April 5, 1966 M. M.KINTNER 3,243,827

BEDDING SECURING STRUCTURE Filed May 27, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 2

BY 7% W ATTORNEYS April 5, 1966 M. M. KINTNER BEDDING SECURING STRUCTURE5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed May 27, 1963 FIG. 6

INVENTOR.

MILDRED M. KINTNER BY 76% @4299 FIG. 5

ATTORNEYS April 5, 1966 M. M. KINTNER 3,243,827

BEDDING SECURING STRUCTURE Filed May 27, 1965 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 FIG. 9

FIG. IO

INVENTOR.

MILDRED M. Kl NTNER M YJZZ ATTORNEYS April 1966 M. M. KINTNER 3,243,827

BEDDING SECURING STRUCTURE Filed May 2'7, 1963 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 F l G. lI F I6. I 2

FIG. l3

INVENTOR.

MILDRED M. KINTNER BY; if q ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,243,827BEDDING SECURING STRUCTURE Mildred M. Kintner, 3624 Vistula Road,Mishawaka, Ind. Filed May 27, 1963, Ser. No. 283,189 9 Claims. (Cl. 334)The present invention relates to bedding and more particularly to aconstruction and design for securing bedding in place on the mattress.

A substantial amount of work and effort have been given in recent yearsto the development of bedding construction for retaining the bedding inplace on the mattress without having to fold the ends and sides and tuckthem firmly under the mattress, often involving lifting a corner, end orside of the mattress several times in making the bed. One such recentdevelopment has been the contour sheet which is provided withpermanently formed pockets adapted to slip over the ends or corners ofthe mattress and to hold the sheet taut over the upper side of themattress. This type, however, has the inherent disadvantage of requiringthe ends or corners of the mattress to be lifted when the sheets arebeing changed, and further, interfering with laundering, particularlyironing, since the preformed pockets can not be satisfactorily ironed ona mangle or similar ironing machine. A more recent developmentconsisting in the use of Velcro-tyne securing means has overcome most ofthe disadvantages of the contour sheet-type bedding, while at the sametime providing all of the advantages. Bedding structures having thistype of retaining means are now covered by applicants US. Patents Nos.3,066,321 and 3,066,323, and the present invention is an improvement onthose prior structures, which generally required one of the two securingmembers or means to be secured to the sheet or mattress cover, forexample, and the other to the mattress. In the use of the securing meansdisclosed in the two patents, one member thereof, consisting of feltmaterial, is attached to the sheet or mattress cover, and the othermember, consisting of numerous plastic hooks which adhere readily andfirmly to the felt when pressed against it, is attached to the mattress,usually permanently. The felt material when attached to the sheet ormattress cover is flexible and relatively thin and does not interferewith laundering and ironing on mangles and other ironing machines.However, the member of plastic hook material is relatively stiff andbulky and tends to adhere to other pieces of bedding material launderedat the same time and interferes with satisfactory laundering andironing. It is, therefore,'one of the principal objects of the presentinvention to provide a bedding structure and design utilizing the feltand hook material ty-pe securing means, which is more versatile than andas easily laundered and ironed as my prior bedding, and which can stillbe easily and quickly secured to the bed without lifting any portion ofthe mattress.

With the previous securing means of theaforesaid felt and hook type, itwas usually necessary to attain one part of the securing meanspermanently to the side of the mattress by sewing, cementing or gluing.While this method of attaching the parts to the mattress in no waydamaged the mattress fabric or structure, some reluctance wasencountered in permanently disfiguring the mattress even though theparts applied thereto did not interfere with the use of conventionalbedding and could not be seen when the bed was fully made. It is,therefore, another principal object of the invention to provide abedding securing means of the aforesaid felt and hook type whicheliminates or minimizes the need for permanently attaching either of thetwo securing parts directly on the mattress.

Still another object of the invention is 'to provide a ice simplifiedconstruction and design for sheets, blankets and the like embodying thepresent securing means, which can easily be made on automatic machinery,and which can be as readily and effectively ironed with standard ironingequipment as the conventional fiat sheet or blanket.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following description and accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a mattress cover or sheet embodying thepresent invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of a mattress showing thepresent mattress cover of FIGURE 1 secured thereto;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of a mattresscover or sheet, embodying the present invention;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary plan view of the bottom of a mattress showingthe modified form of the cover of FIGURE 3 secured thereto;

FIGURE 5 is a front elevational view of a device for securing thebedding embodying the present invention to a mattress;

FIGURE 6 is a side elevational view of the device shown in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a top plan view of the device shown in FIGURES 5 and 6;

' FIGURE 8 is a fragmentary perspective view of the device shown inFIGURES 5, 6 and 7, showing the device mounted on'a mattress;

FIGURE 9 is a fragmentary plan view of a modified form of sheetembodying the present invention;

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary plan view of a further modified form of thesheet involving the present invention;

FIGURE 11 is a plan view of a sheet used for the top sheet in bedding,showing a means for securing it to the mattress or mattress cover;

FIGURE 12 is a plan view of a blanket showing the means for securing itto the mattress or mattress cover over the top sheet of FIGURE 11; and

FIGURE 13 illustrates the manner in which the sheet and blanket ofFIGURES Il and 12 are secured to a mattress or mattress cover.

Referring more specifically to the drawings and to the embodiment of thepresent invention illustrated in FIG- URES 1 and 2, numeral 20designates a mattress cover or sheet for a standard double bed having aconventional innerspring mattress 21, The cover is provided withsecuring means 22, 24, 26 and 28 at the corners, each securing meansconsisting of a notched portion 30, the sides of which are parallel withthe sides and ends of the sheet and having two angularly projectingmembers 32 and 34 extending laterally from the respective side and 'endof the sheet or cover. One of the two members 32 or 34 contains on theunder side, as shown at numeral 32, one element 36 of the securingmeans, and the other member, for example 34, contains on the upper sidethe other element 38 of the securing means. Along the two edegs of theslots are similar elements 40 and 42 for securing the sheets and blanketthereto after cover 20 has been applied to the mattress, using elements36 and 38 of members 32 and 34, respectively, in the manner to be described more fully hereinafter.

FIGURE 2 illustrates the manner in which members 32 and 34 with elements36 and 38 applied thereto are I used to secure the mattress cover orsheet to the mattress.

When the mattress cover is placed on the bed, the two sides and the twoends extend downwardly over the edge of the mattress with the two edgesof'slot 30 coming together at the respective corner of the mattress.With the sides and ends of the cover in this position, memberst32 and 34of each securing means are placed beneath the corners of the mattresswith the two elements 36 and 38 engaging one another and securing thetwo members together, and hence securing the corner of the cover firmlyon the mattress. The cover can be drawn tightly over the bed byadjusting the position of members 32 and 34 relative to one another.After the mattress cover has been placed on the bed in the foregoingmanner, the sheets and blanket of a construction similar to that shownin FIGURES 9 through 12 are then secured to the cover, using the sametype of securing means, sheets 50 and 64 or 66 and blanket 52 secured tocover 20 at elements 40 and 42, using elements 54 and 56 on the sheetsand elements 58 and 60 on the blanket in the manner illustrated inFIGURE 13.

While members 32 and 34 are placed beneath the corner of the mattress,they are only approximately the length of the fingers, and hence can beplaced under the corner of the mattress by merely slipping the memberslengthwise thereunder by passing the fingers between the mattress andthe springs. Thus, no actual lifting of the mattress is required tofirmly and effectively secure the two members together with elements 36and 38.

The type of securing device'used in the present invention consists oftwo elements, one of felt-like material and the other of a plasticmaterial of numerous hooklike parts. The individual plastic strands ofthe hook material are resilient and flexible and are provided with ahook-like configuration at the free end, and the felt-like materialconsists of numerous small loops which can readily be engaged andinterlocked with the hooks when the two elements are pressed firmlytogether. The two cooperating elements or strips are available on themarket under the trade name Velcro, and one form of this type ofsecuring means is disclosed in US. Patent No. 2,717,- 437, issued to G.De Mestral. Other types of securing means may be used in place of theVelcro type, provided the two opposing strips or parts are capable ofbeing laundered, or otherwise cleaned, and can be firmly securedtogether by merely placing the strips in face to face contact and thenapplying a moderate amount of pressure, and thereafter easily separatedby merely pulling the two engaging surfaces apart. Further details ofthe present securing means are described in my two patents, previouslymentioned herein.

A further modified form of the present invention is illustrated inFIGURES 9 and suitable for use as a bottom sheet in combination withmattress cover or with a securing device illustrated in FIGURES 5, 6, 7and 8. The securing device 70 in FIGURES 5, 6, 7 and 8 consists of aside wall 72 curved to the approximate shape of the corner of themattress, a bottom member 74 connected to the two parts of the side walland an upwardly extending member 76. The side wall is provided with oneelement 78 of the securing means, preferably the hooked portion, whichhas an extension 80 projecting up along the external surface of member76. When the sheet 64 or 66 is secured to the device, elements 82 and84, preferably of felt, on the sheet are secured to member 78 whichextends around the corner of side wall 72. When the sheet 64, forexample, is placed on the bed, the elements 82 and 84 face downwardlyand inwardly and are pressed against the external surface of member 78.The material between the two elements is then tucked inwardly to form aneat, non-protruding corner on the sheet. Top sheet 50 and blanket 52can then be secured to the device 70 in the same manner in which theywere secured to mattress cover 20 in the previous embodiment.

In using bottom sheets 64 and 66 with mattress cover 20, elements 82 canbe secured to section 90 of elements 40 and elements 84 to section 92 ofelements 42. elements 54 and 56 of top sheet 50 can then be secured tosections 94 and 96 of elements 40 and 42 at both sides of the foot ofthe mattress cover, and elements 58 and 60 of blanket 52 to sections 98and 100.

While the device 70 will often hold itself firmly to the mattress, insome instances it may be desirable to secure it more firmly to themattress. This can be done by the use of pressure sensitive tape 86adhering to the upper side of member 74 and to the under side of themattress at the corner. When the device 70 is removed, the tape likewisecan be readily removed from the mattress without injuring the fabric.

The modification shown in FIGURE 3 is. similar to that shown in FIGURE1, the primary difference being that the felt material only is appliedto the mattress cover or sheet and the two ends of members 32 and 34containing the felt are placed beneath the mattress and a separateelement of the plastic hooked material 102 is placed on the two feltelements 36 and 38' of members 32 and 34, thus securing the two membersfirmly under the corner of the mattress, thereby retaining the sheet ina taut condition on the mattress.

While several embodiments of the present invention have been describedin detail herein, various further modifications and changes may be madeto satisfy requirements without departing from the scope of theinvention.

I claim:

1. A bedding structure for use with a mattress, comprising a fiatgenerally rectangular panel of fabric, each corner of said panel havinga notch of a right angle shape, a member at each external corner of saidnotch projecting outwardly beyond the edges of the panel defining therespective notch and beyond the respective edges of the panel joiningeach notch, securing means of felt material on one side of one of saidmembers and securing means of plastic hooked elements on the side of theother of said members opposite the side on which the securing means ofthe other member is attached, for engagement with said first mentionedsecuring means, and securing means of felt material secured along eachside of each of said notches adjacent said members on the same side ofsaid panel.

2. A bedding structure for use with a mattress, comprising a generallyrectangular panel of flexible material, each corner of said panel havinga notch, a member at each external corner of said notch projectingoutwardly beyond the edges of the panel defining the respective notchand beyond the respective edges of the panel joining each notch,securing means on one side of one of said members and securing means onthe side of the other of said members opposite the side on which thesecuring means of the other member is attached, for engagement with saidfirst mentioned securing means, and securing means of felt materialsecured along each side of each of said notches adjacent said members onthe same side of said panel.

3. A bedding structure for use with a mattress, comprising a generallyrectangular panel of flexible material, each corner of said panel havinga notch, a member at each external corner of said notch projectingoutwardly beyond the edges of the panel defining the respective notchand beyond the respective edges of the panel joining each notch,securing means on one side of one of said members, and securing means onthe side of the other of said members opposite the side on which thesecuring means of the other member is attached, for engagement with saidfirst mentioned securing means.

4. A bedding structure for use with a mattress, comprising a generallyrectangular panel of fabric, each corner of said panel having a notch ofa right angle shape, a member at each external corner of said notchprojecting outwardly beyond the edges of the panel defining therespective notch and beyond the respective edges of the panel joiningeach notch, securing means of felt material secured along each side ofeach of said notches adjacent said members on the same side of saidpanel, securing means of felt material secured to the same side of eachof said projecting members, and a means having numerous hooked elementsthereon engaging and inter connecting the members at each corner. I

5; A bedding structure for use with a mattress, comprising a generallyrectangular panel of flexible material, each corner of said panel havinga notch, a member at each external corner of said notch projectingoutwardly beyond the edges of the panel defining the respective notchand beyond the respective edges of the panel joining each notch,securing means of felt material secured to the same side of each of saidprojecting members, and a means having numerous hooked elements thereonengaging and interconnecting the members at each corner.

6. A bedding structure for use with a mattress, comprising a generallyrectangular panel of flexible material, each corner of said panel havinga notch of a right angle shape, securing means of felt material securedalong each side of each of said notches on the same side of said panel,a retaining device for each corner of said panel having a horizontalpositioned side wall extending around the corner of the mattress, amember connected to the bottom of said side wall near the ends thereofand being adapted to fit beneath the mattress, a vertical extension onsaid Wall near the center thereof, and securing means of plastic hookelements on the external surface of said wall on both sides of therespective corner and on said extension for receiving the securing meanson said panel.

7. A bedding structure for use with a mat-tress, comprising a generallyrectangular panel of flexible material, each corner of said panel havinga notch, securing means of felt material at each external corner of eachof said notches, a retaining device for each corner of said panel havinga horizontal positioned side Wall extending around the corner of themattress, a member connected to the bottom of said side wall near theends thereof and being adapted to fit beneath the mattress, securingmeans on the external surface of said wall on both sides of therespective corner for receiving the-securing means on said panel, andmeans on said last mentioned member for attaching said member to theunderside of the mattress.

S. A bedding structure for use with a mattress, comprising a generallyrectangular panel of flexible material, each corner of said panel havinga notch, securing means of felt material at each external corner of eachof said notches, a retaining device for each corner of said panel havinga horizontally positioned side wall extending around the corner of themattress, a member connected to the bottom of said side wall near theends thereof and being adapted to fit beneath the mattress, and securingmeans on the external surface of said wall for receiving the securingmeans on said panel.

9. A bedding structure, comprising a generally rectangular panel offlexible material, securing means of felt material at one end of saidpanel, a retaining device for said panel having a horizontallypositioned side wall extending around the corner of the mattress, amember connected to the bottom of said side Wall near the ends thereofand being adapted to fit beneath the mattress, and securing means ofplastic hook elements on the external surface of said wall for receivingthe securing means on said panel.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 738,674 9/1903Grattan 297219 X 2,516,363 7/1950 Block et al. 5334 3,066,323 12/1962Kintner 5-334 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

A. M. CALVERT, Assistant Examiner.

1. A BEDDING STRUCTURE FOR USE WITH A MATTRESS, COMPRISING A FLATGENERALLY RECTANGULAR PANEL OF FABRIC, EACH CORNER OF SAID PANEL HAVINGA NOTCH OF A RIGHT ANGLE SHAPE, A MEMBER AT EACH EXTERNAL CORNER OF SAIDNOTCH PROJECTING OUTWARDLY BEYOND THE EDGES OF THE PANEL DEFINING THERESPECTIVE NOTCH AND BEYOND THE RESPECTIVE EDGES OF THE PANEL JOININGEACH NOTCH, SECURING MEANS OF FELT MATERIAL ON ONE SIDE OF ONE OF SAIDMEMBERS AND SECUR-